Weekly Roundup: 31 July

European Commission
European Commission sets out intentions for new rules on migration and digitalisation of justice
The European Commission has published two roadmaps setting out its plans for new rules in two important areas: the digitalisation of justice and the EU’s migration and asylum system:

·       The Commission will publish a package of measures in Q3 that reform the EU’s approach to

migration and asylum, replacing the current framework with more efficient rules (link).

·       Judicial proceedings still mostly take place on paper in the EU. The Commission will therefore publish plans in Q4 to improve cross-border information exchange between national justice systems (link).

Passenger Name Record Directive delivers good results
The European Commission has published a report on the impact of the PNR Directive, which regulates the collection and processing of PNR data. The report finds that the use of PNR data has contributed to the identification of potential terrorists or people involved in serious crimes (link).
European Parliament
MEPs meet Commission President on racism and discrimination
Members of the European Parliament’s group on Anti-racism and Diversity met with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 28 July to discuss racism and discrimination in the EU. The Commission has committed to producing an Action Plan to address these issues, which is expected in the coming months (link).
National updates
Belgium: The Government has approved plans to grant subsidies that will support end-of-career schemes for local police (link)

 Poland: The country plans to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, a move strongly criticised by the Council of Europe (link) and ETUC (link). The move has reignited calls for EU leaders to finalise ratification of the Convention, a process which began in 2015.
Other news
EU health and safety agency calls for workers’ protection from exposure to biological agents
A new report from EU-OSHA highlights the effect of workplace exposure to biological agents, showing that an estimated 5,000 workers die each year in the EU as a result of work-related infectious diseases (link).

UN Special Rapporteur warns of racial discrimination in emerging technologies
The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance has published a report assessing whether emerging digital technologies perpetuate racial discrimination at a structural level (link). The report refers to the use of digital

technologies in predictive policing in some parts of the world.

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